Small plane flights on tour for claustrophobic, motion sick traveler?

KateWu

One of my family members is claustrophobic and gets motion sick. What are the flights on the small planes like during the trip? Are they smooth, bumpy, cramped with little air flow? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
We will be on the Classic Safari K and T trip soon.

AlanS

KateWu wrote:

One of my family members is claustrophobic and gets motion sick. What are the flights on the small planes like during the trip? Are they smooth, bumpy, cramped with little air flow? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
We will be on the Classic Safari K and T trip soon.

Check out the K&T Forum archives for more details about the types of airplanes, etc.

The flights are typically flown at 10,000' above the ground and are subject to turbulence if the conditions are right- we bounced a little due to thermals, but it was nothing severe. While the cabins can be small, we didn't find them hot or stuffy- good airflow once airborne.

Single engine (turboprop) 12 passenger Cessna Caravan at Amboseli:



20 passenger twin turboprop de Havilland DHC-6 "Twin Otter" at the Maasai Mara:



Interior of the Twin Otter:

British

As you can see from Alan's photos they are cramped. Though I usually have no problems with claustrophobia or air sickness, I did experience a problem on one plane on one of my five trips to Africa, a Tauck tour . Apparently the plane was traveling over ten thousand feet for a time and I felt as if I could not breathe, as it happens, another person on the flight felt the same, it was the tour director, she said it had never happened to her before either, but she noticed how high we were flying. The planes are not pressurized. . It was quite frightening but I used my relaxation techniques to get through it. However, I would not want to be on a small plane with someone who had some kind of panic attack. I would suggest some kind of medication for the flight. The smallest plane I have been on is a total of six people including pilot, hot and cramped!

Sealord

All the planes on our trip (we are now in Nairobi) were the larger two engine and four engine “Dash” models which held all thirty two of us and were pressurized. This, however, is not always the case.

The weather is cool with most people wearing jackets or pullovers in the morning and evening.

LaurelL

Sealord.....thanks for the weather updates......did you make a school visit? Departing in 10 days and wondering about packing school supplies etc

mil

Sealord Hi!!
Glad to hear from you, so were you doing the K&T classic tour? weather is cold.... so how cold is it, what's the temp. ?
please advise..just to have and idea. I'm from Seattle so cold can be actually a pleasant temp. for me )
Have a great time and thanks for the info.

Lynart

British,
Interested in your "relaxation technique", since you've tried and seems to have worked.
Maybe meds for high altitude illness (DIAMOX) or motion sickness (Dramamine) might work too?
Thanks.
LynArt

British

Yes, altitude sickness meds may work for some people. I would not want to take them myself since I take high BP meds and might want to enjoy a glass of wine at a Sundowner, both a possible contraindication for these meds. This particular
Flight was the only small plane flight out of the many I have taken that I was affected.
I use a modified form of the old technique I used to teach in pre natal relaxation classes in England, I have no idea of that is still used but I just found a link. The Laura Mitchell method
Let’s see if it comes up. http://www.csp.org.uk/sites/files/csp/secure/pogp-mitchell-2_0.pdf
I use this for everything from when I am getting blood drawn to entering a cold swimming pool. Try it!

Sealord

Yes, K&T. Our 2014 migration at the Mara was massive. I posted a video on Youtube, and there are about fifty just like it. The crossing we witnessed this year was relatively small, it was in a shallow part of the river where the wildebeest could simply run across, and there were no crocodiles. Those were all a factor in 2014 and that year we saw thousands cross, this year a few dozen, and no zebras although some were present. Cold? It got down to around fifty or maybe a little less at Ngorongoro. That being said, there was no heat in Arusha, and the heat did not work well at Ngorongoro, so the temperature outside is the temperature inside. At Ngorongoro I awoke wearing the provided bath robe under two blankets. My wife wore about four layers, gloves, and a stocking cap when we left the lodge at Ngorongoro to descend into the caldera. It warmed up to shirt sleeve weather during the day, but it never got hot anywhere during our trip July 13 thru July 26. I kept a fleece jacket in my backpack and wore it fairly often. Check the weather for your particular trip.

Packing. Some people showed up with five suitcases. Way too much! We used the two Tauck duffels plus a small rollaboard. Checked one duffel going, with the liquids, and carried aboard one duffel and the rollaboard. We used everything we brought but were lacking nothing. Half the time on the trip, the only luggage you have is the duffel, so you might as well plan on that being your luggage. During the safari, the rollaboard held only our travel clothes and our headphones. We used the laundry in several places, but we arrived home with nothing but dirty clothes, and nothiing unused. We also each had a backpack to carry cameras and binoculars and such.

British

Sealord, you have to be kidding, five suitcases!

Sealord

Nice people but yesl “Five” suitcases. A different outfit for every day. Nuts. It is not that kind of trip. It is old clothes or safari clothes. Maximum of resort casual for dinner at the Four Seasons, or Mt. Kenya Safari club, but the same outfit will do for both.

We did go to a school but not our TD’s favorite school project. Tauck thinks the area is not safe enough. Still a good project, the school definitely needed the stuff we brought. Travel time getting home was about forty hours including the flight from the Masai Mara, the day room at the Fairmont Norfolk, and flight from NBO to AMS to SFO. Twenty of us on the KLM flight from NBO to AMS but most were in business, we were in ‘coach comfort’.

Packing. Pack layers and at least a jacket or pullover. One couple packed for warm weather only, and suffered the cosequences until they were able to buy some warmer clothes. Several people ended up wearing logo clothing from the Mt. Kenya safari club that was ‘warm’. This is a high altitude trip, so the proximity of the equator means little. Mt. Kiliminjaro is a snow capped mountain. We actually got a glimpse of it at Amboseli.

All the flights were smooth. I flew as co-pilot on one of the planes going to Arusha from the Four Seasons ... oops we did have smaller planes on that leg ... Cessna Caravans. It was funny cuz everyone was following me around cuz they wanted to be on my plane. (;-)